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No. 573,819.y Patented Deo. 22, 1896.

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P. W. LBPFLER. ELECTRIC RAILWAY. No. 573,819. Patented Deo.22,1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL W. LEFFLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE LEFFLER ELECTRO MAGNETIC RAILWAY COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,819, dated December 22, 1896. Application filed August 12, 1895. Serial No. 558,992. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL IV. LEFFLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railways, &c. and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates especially to electric railways, but is capable of general applica tion as means for propelling cars or other vehicles, and has for its object to improve the construction of said systems in point of efciency and ease of manipulation.

To these ends my invention comprises the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and defined in the 2o Claims.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein, like letters referring to like parts th roughout the several views- Figure l is a central longitudinal section through a car-truck and road-bed equipped with my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line nc of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view, some parts being broken 3o away, showing in diagram the Wiring of the field; 'and Fig. 4 is a plan view showing in diagram the car-armature, the wiring of said armature, and a controller for the same.

a represents the road-bed, and c the track- 3 5 rails.

b indicates a soft-iron bar extending the length of the track centrally between the rails a' and constituting the core of the magnetic eld. As shown, this core b is wound by three insulated wires b' b2 bsfwhich pass laterally through the core, as shown in Fig. 3, by reference to which view it will be seen that the said wires are so arranged that the upper face of the core b is formed into a series of magnetic sections, which overlap each other and form a continuous series. It will be further noted that, as shown, the wires b' b2 bs of the field are wound in one direction until all of the possible advance steps are taken up, and then are wound in the reverse direction, advancing in the same direction longitudinally of the core.

The ield-wires b b2 b3, forming the multiphase circuit of the eld,may be distinguished throughout the diagram shown in Fig. 3 respectively by full, broken, and dotted lines. These field-wires are, as shown, fed from an ordinary triphase alternating dynamo c. (Diagrammatically shown in Fig. 3.)

It will be understood, of course, that the circuits formed through the several conductors b' b2 ba may be. closed either by grounding the same or bysuitable return-wires,as shown, and that there may be any number of circuits which, with the current used, will give the proper inductive action to the eld. It will also be understood that each circuit, while shown as comprising but a single wire, may be composed of a number of small wires connected with the source to receive a common impulse.

To energize the field, I prefer to employ true or unbroken alternating currents; but it is possibleto employ any currents which have either an intermittent or a pulsatory action, and the expression alternating current or currents, as used throughout the specication and the claims, is intended to include all such currents.

Directing attention now to the armature, dindicates asoft--iron core which is carried by the car-truck f f' f2 f3 f4 or similar traveling body, and is thereby held to move in close proximity to the upper face of the field, as shown in Fig. 1. This armature-core d is wound, as hitherto noted, so as to form therein a series of magnetic sections. This is done by a series of insulated wires g, which are connected at one of their ends by a common insulated wire or bar g and at their other ends each to one of a series of insulated contact-pieces h of a controller h h h2. In this controller the contact-pieces h are secured to the insulating-base h' on the arc of a circle and are arranged to be electrically connected by the pivoted segment or conductor h2.

In the drawings the controller h h h2 is shown as carried by the armature-core d and Iss as insulated therefrom by the base h'; but of course in practice` this controller could be placed on any convenient part of the car.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. et that the arrangement of the armature-wiring is such that as the contact-segment h2 is moved -over the irst two contact-pieces h in the direction indicated by the arrow the two wires g which are wound at the center of the armature will thereby be connected to form a closed circuit, and that in like manner each successive pair of contact-pieces h when connected by the segment h2 will also form a closed circuit through the next adjoining outward wires g, and so on until the circuit through the two outermost wires g is closed by connecting the last two contact-pieces 7L. This arrangement is very important, first, because it permits the magnetic sections of the armature to be rendered active or inactive successively and cumulatively, and, second, because the increasing or decreasing induced magnetic force in th'e armature is distributed or varied equally and evenly on both sides of the longitudinal center of the armature .and truck. The former feature permits the car to be started and stopped gradually and the speed and power on the car to be varied, while the latter feature preserves the longitudinal equilibrium of the truck or traveling body and prevents endwise tilting motion of the same.

The magnetic action of the iield on the armature-magnets is obvious. With the construction shown, the multiphase circuits of the field being energized by alternating currents, as set forth, an advancing resultant magnetic force will be created in said field. When out of the influence of the field, the coils of the armature-magnet are dormant or neutral, having no magnetic actionybut nnder the action of the l'ield the magnetic lines of the field, cutting the closed conductors of the car-armature, induce in said conductors electric currents, which induced currents in turn magnetize the sections of said armaturecore around which they travel. As a result of the above-noted magnetic action the sections of the armature will always be magnetized with a polarity opposite to that of the opposing sections of the field, and hence, unlike poles attracting cach other, the armature will be drawn or caused to travel with the resultant force of the iield.

Whenever any of the coils of the car-armature are opened, electric currents cannot be induced in those particular coils, and hence the sections of the armature-core which they embrace will not be magnetized, as is the case with the closed coils.l From this fact it becomes evident that by opening and closing lmore or less of the coils the speed and power of the car may be varied, as already set forth, yhtle; prper manipulation of the controller In my present invention no actual electrical connection is required between the car or parts carried thereby and the stationary roadway or supply-station. Neither is it necessary that the car should be equipped with a storage battery or other source of energy. At the same time a liighly-eihcient means of transmitting power to the car is obtained.

In the combination of parts hereinbefore described the cumulative circ uit-controller is vital, because thereby the power may bc varied at will, as is required for adaptation to different loads or grades and as is required for starting the car without violent shocks or Jars.

The expression field-magnets extending along the line of travel is used throughout the specification and the claims in a sense broad enough to includeany and all magnetic devices which may be arranged to produce a field along the line of the cars travel.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows l. The combination with field-magnets extending along the line of travel, of a series of coperating magnetic sections arranged longitudinally of the car, and a controller ou the car for rendering said magnetic sections operative or inoperative, cumulatively, in pairs, one on each side of the center of said armature, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a car or other vehicle, of field-magnets extending along the line of travel, an armature on the car, wired by a series of coils that are normally dormant but which become subject to the inductive action of the field to propel the car, and an armature-circuit controller 011 the car, comprising a series of insulated contact-pieces and a movable conductor engageable with said contact-pieces, said armature-wires being so arranged and connected to said contact-pieces that the successive engagement of said movable conductor with said contact-pieces will close the circuits through said armature-coils cumulatively, in pairs, one on each side of the center of said armature, substantially as described. v

3. The combination with a car or other vehicle, of field-magnets extending along the line of travel, an armature on the car, wired by a series of coils that are normally dormant but which become subject to the inductive action of the iield to propel the car, and an armature-circuit controller on the car, comprising a series of insulated contact-pieces and a movable conductor engageable with said contact-pieces, said wires being-so arranged and connected tosaid contact-pieces that the successive engagement of said movable conductor with said contact-pieces will close the circuits through said armature-coils, cumulatively and progressively from the center of the armature outward in both directions, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a car or other vehicle, of field-magnets extending along the IOO IIO

`ing the segmentally-arranged series of insuline of travel, an armature on the car Wired eratug substantiallyas and for the purposes 1o by a series of coils that are normally dormant set forth.

but which become subject to the inductive ac- In testimony whereof I affix my signature tion of the field to propel the car, and the :1 .rin presence of two witnesses.

mature-euemtcontroller on the car, comprls- PAUL v LEFFLER.

lated eontac-t-pieces, and the pivoted segmental conductor engageable with said contact-pieces, said parts bein g arranged and opj 'itnesses I-IARRIETT M. SMITH, HARRIET M. GIBBS. 

